The annual boutique festival will feature a powerhouse line up, including Old Crow Medicine Show, Galactic, Moon Taxi, Nahko And Medicine For The People, JJ Grey & Mofro, Spafford, The Vegabonds, Hedonistas, Voodoo Visionary and Webster.

When the deadline arrived, Belcher said, films were judged by an anonymous panel, which consisted of CMF employees and a few Georgia State staff. The short films were scored on a point system based on content, technical excellence and the overall quality. 

The trade association Film Florida estimates that the $500 million in lost productions would have used more than 220,000 hotel room nights, produced 110,000 jobs, led to $1.3 billion in spending and increased tax revenues.

Think of Netflix’s show “Stranger Things,” which is based in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana. They surely found one of the dozens of small towns across the state to film the series in, right?

“It’s time that we saw something besides a Georgia peach after a program,” said Steven Gorelick, executive director of the commission. “The people who live in New Jersey are extremely excited and proud about it. There’s a lot of pride seeing your town being captured by these great cinematographers and directors.”

“American Factory,” the local documentary that won an Academy Award on Sunday night, benefited from an Ohio tax credit program that has both its fans and critics.

“If you look at where we started or at least where we were when the film office became a part of SEDA and where we are today, it’s been a great steady growth projection.”